Old

Today the oldest thing I’m wearing is a hundred year old gold necklace. It looks like a locket but it’s not. My grandmother gave it to me (or my mom to keep for me)

The little note that was included with it says it was fifty years old in 1968. My grandmother passed soon after, I was too young to have a memory her. The necklace was packed away with a few of my old baby items.

My granddaughter was with me when I discovered it again in storage this past winter. She was interested in seeing my baby clothes. There was another necklace in the box that I had worn as a kid. Rose loved it.

These necklaces have not been worn in fifty years.

So we wore them home. I haven’t taken mine off. I like the connection to my grandmother and my granddaughter on the same day. Now that I’m living far from my grandkids, having a daily reminder, a touchstone of sorts, feels important. Pictures are nice and give me comfort since being away, but I appreciate the physicality of the necklace. It’s a nice reminder of a fun day that spanned four generations. I like to think of my grandma, Rose’s great great grandma, looking down and appreciating that she set this in motion all those many years ago.

Grandparenting is another amazing part of life that I never expected to experience. I wish my own grandmother had lived long enough for me to remember her. Her husband, my grandfather, was a big part of my earliest memories, his influence has stayed with me throughout my whole life.

Generation to generation things change dramatically, but the love we have for our grands, that stays with us from both directions, forever.